Eastside Inn: Love just ain’t enough.

Having to update my list of favourites is the least of my worries, and this is probably the only time, in my time as a blogger, that I feel devastated enough to compel me to write a few words about the closing of a restaurant, and the factors which surround it, considering the strong blog presence, it did not lead to conversion.

First wind of the sad news came through the twitterwire, rumors of a fire which had broke out in the night, and in the morning Bjorn annouced he was shutting his restaurant because “It was the melange of too much in a very difficult time”.

Those who follow my mad ramblings will know how much I loved Eastside Inn. Bjorn van der Horst is a meritoriously talented chef, who emerged from successful stints at The Greenhouse and Gordo’s La Noisette to open ESI with his wife Justine in late 2008.

I remember how ESI opened, knee-deep at the height of the recession, with not one, but the concept of back to back eateries; on one side, was a bistro, with the fantastic open kitchen, that had become its signature; and the other side was a super fine dining room that served an off-the-cuff taster menu, which was fucking brilliant. And also ingloriously expensive to the tune of £70 for three courses, but simply amazing. So much so I thought it was my best meal in 2009 and that Bjorn’s future was to be filled with stars and become a future institution in London.

I can still quite vividly remember one of the best dishes I’ve had: Sweetbreads, lobster, cepes.

One of the great things about ESI is the team spirit, the heartwarming service and you know, a feel like those who work at ESI are like one massive family. As a diner, I definitely felt the love.

On my most recent and final visit in May 2010, Bjorn had rejigged the restaurant formula a little, converting the fine dining bit into a bar/lounge and turning the bistro into the main dining space, I’d imagine to adapt to the difficult market conditions. Nevertheless, The quality of the fantastic French cooking stayed high, fabulously warm service and now a complimentary glass of champagne for every diner.

If I could just post one more picture, of the onglet and frites.

Of course it was amazing.

Really to echo what Aaron has said on his blog, we will miss the superb service, the welcoming ambiance, the breathtaking cooking and the amazing team which Bjorn and Justine had assembled.

I’m not entirely certain why ESI had shut, at least I don’t want to speculate for the exact issues Bjorn & Justine had, because I feel that the restaurant business is a hugely complicated industry. It is sustained hard work, long hours and there is always the threat of know-nothing-bloggers such as myself wandering into the room adjudicating as if I know the difference between sous-vide and broiling. And I should know this, since it was the endearing piece of advice my dad gave me that is “to never go into the restaurant business” , as his father was left with pennies after they shut our family restaurant.

But I’ll entertain the self-appreciating theory that coverage over multiple blogs might have saved ESI, even though our influence could be more limited than I imagine it to be. Many in the blogosphere share my sentiments for Eastside Inn equally, if perhaps not more so, for all the perceived exposure blogs have, it does not seem like it has the power to compel people to converts.

Leading me to wonder really, that if blogs are simply read by others bloggers (and food writers), and for those who read reviews, do they take it with a great pinch of salt and largely not act on it? If so, are reviews more entertaiment and commentary, as opposed to being something more useful? As one would appreciate, blogs write reviews for all sorts of reasons, but ultimately, the goal has to be the ability to form a guiding voice. Surely that’s the endgame, at least it’s mine. That or proper shouting to the wind.

On the other hand, bloggers are – by definition – the frontline restaurant goers, so to speak. They get to the all the places which are ‘hot’, right? But with the enthusiasm to seek unique meals (to blog about) , in turn, it limits return visits. In the two years ESI has been operating, I’ve only been three times. Whereas before I started blogging, I frequented Cambio de Tercio nearly once a month. So here is this group of 20-30-ish with all that juicy disposable income, but they can’t really support the trade because they spread themselves too thin. Double edge sword innit?

Gasp, are blogs detrimental to the trade… ?

Who knows? We need numbers.

Perhaps the restaurant PRs who have successfully corroborated with blogs and consequently measured the impact and effectiveness of marketing restaurants on the internet, could shed more light on this topic. To my knowledge, ESI’s blogging events were limited to one reception in July, and it clearly didn’t work for them. But as we know, there are equally restaurants out there who have masterfully instrumented internet campaigns with great success.

I think the keyword here is ‘conversion’. And conversion as applied to the non-blogging, general public, and not limited to the gastrophilic bloggerati.

I think the internet is merely a small link in much larger pool of communication sources. Lets address the perceived notion that blogs have reach. I wonder if we really do. My humble little outfit only pulls in 50k hits a month; let’s assume the heavyweight foodblogs do 100k or 200k a month, if we multiple that by say ten (average number of blog posts per restaurant), that’s say 500,000 eyeballs reading said review. Give or take.

Reach is one thing, but the other, probably most crucial aspect of opinion is the trust a reader forms with the author/publication. Credibility and reputation is probably something blogs – as a whole – do not yet begin to compete with old media. It will take time for the public to firstly accept new media, before trusting it. Whose word do you trust more? Guy Dimond’s or mine?

My my, did I digress. Getting back to what’s important then, what’s the way forward for Bjorn’s cooking? Obviously, he will bounce back from this stronger than ever, and I know his next restaurant is going to be amazing. But before that, I wonder if he might consider a guest appearance at Nuno’s permanent pop-up project The Loft?

Not all bloggers go to new places solely because they want to write about something new; I’ve been to Polpo five times, Koya and Tayyabs much more. There have been SO many blog posts about Eastside Inn, I find it hard to believe that bloggers “spreading themselves too thinly” is the issue.

Lizzie – Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. But if we’re counting revisits, then I think I’ve done Goodman six times, Shiori four times, Tayyabs four times, Byron once a month since mid2009, Koya four or five times I think… I was illustrating a point, from my perspective, how when I want to try a number of different restaurants, that in turn, it means I can’t get to my personal favourites as often as I would like.

Thought-provoking point, but on the other hand, I discovered Eastside Inn by reading your blog and the rave reviews convinced me to have dinner there two weeks ago. I was very impressed and am sad to see it go. I’m now also eagerly awaiting Bjorn Van Der Horst’s next venture and will certainly be visiting that. So some readers do “convert” into customers and you’re certainly not just shouting to the wind. Unfortunately, it appears positive coverage sometimes just isn’t enough…

Thanks that was an amazing, moving and very thoughtful piece. I just read it with Bjorn and Justine who are both very moved as well.

As a person working in advertising / digital marketing, you’re nailing some key questions I don’t necessarily have the right answers to, I have points of view that I’d happy to talk about at other point.

On your general blogging point: I eat out a great deal; I used avidly to follow a wide range of newspaper and magazine reviewers but, even when they bother to describe the food, I no longer trust any of them. They have largely become a variety of the worst kind of affected journalism. They review the same places, the clearly eat in them in different conditions to people not doing it for a living; and they labour under the delusion that people are reading their effusions because they are interested in their lives.

Even a writer of Adrian Gills undoubted wit and merit now seems as relevant to making a choice about where to eat as Colonel Newnham-Davis reviewing the ice sculptures at Escoffiers Savoy.

I think blogs that can offer enthusiastic and sincere accounts of the food from an anonymous unpaid perspective without the limitations of column inches and columnar egos are bound to be the future.

We had the most delicious meal there – definitely the best meal of its kind we have had in London this year, and only bettered by the one we had at Viajante (which is clearly a very different sort of place).

A plate of superb expertly carved Iberico, a most delcious dish of clams, a memorably deconstructed souffle, perfectly cooked fish. Really fantastic bread. We left in a most excited state of gastronomic satisfaction. I will now have to go elsewhere for my birthday next month.

My opinion for what its worth is that the location (and to some extent the “venue” – which fell somewhere between upscale pub and a Conran private members bar) were the problem. St John is a destination in itself. Hordes of law factory work-gangs patronise the terrible Smiths. There are also two other succesful restaurants there so it is crowded, and ESI was sophisticated, relatively expensive, unknown and opening in the worst economic conditions for a generation. Perhaps if it had been in a destination like Shoreditch or even these days the more fashionable parts of restaurant starved Hackney it might have attracted a more regular and loyal clientelle.

My heartfelt comiserations to those talented and hospitable people; but if I am right the talent and the team only need a more sympathetic home.

Sad to see it go but based on my last visit about 6 weeks ago it was obvious things couldn’t continue as they were, Thursday night, perhaps 8 tables the entire evening.

I also believe it was a case of the restaurant not being sure what it wanted to be. Its bistrot format was inconsistent and confusing. I didn’t understand the need for amuse bouches or the decanting of a £30 bottle of wine. I don’t go to bistrots for that level of service. Basic service on the other hand was lacking and orders were incorrectly taken and wine was not topped up, from the decanter that was 20ft away. I kept thinking to myself if only they left the wine at the table we’d have got through a second bottle.

The food was generally good although it needed to be for that part of town as there is reasonable competition.

Regarding the influence of bloggers, and I speak as a non blogger, I think food blogs are mainly read by other bloggers, newspaper critics and people with a very strong interest in food. I’m the latter and know very few people that regularly frequent such sites.